Cutaneous Clues

Every time I read that a knowing sleuth leans into the vicinity of the newly corpsed and says sagely "ah, the scent of bitter almonds." I wonder if I would recognize the odor my self.  I smell almonds everyday but my old nose is not what it used to be which is sometimes a good thing. These almonds are not bitter of course. Besides if the detective can smell it, why does the victim never get a whiff of the characteristic aroma? In Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Cracked the doomed secretary did smell it but alas it was too late to stop the effects of the poison in the atomizer.

There are some other signs more readily visible which might help me if one were at a weekend party at a country house isolated by some freak weather. If the body is found in the library but seems to have sustained no trauma the characteristic cherry red coloring seen on the skin of someone who has succumbed to Carbon Monoxide is easy to spot. Naturally one would rather not come upon the naked dead in which the livedo pattern is most clear and so a glance at the hands may be all that is needed.

The eyes are the mirrors to the soul it is said. They also give clues that are easier to detect when you come across someone who is moribund, in those final seconds before all the muscles relax. Pinpoint pupils are seen with many narcotic poisonings including morphine and heroin. They are also a factor in organophosphate toxicity. Organophosphates are substances such as pesticides and nerve gases. These can be absorbed through the skin. In these situations there may also be obvious tearing of the eyes and lots of saliva as well as other intestinal side effects.

Dilated pupils are seen with poisonings by drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine as well as more exotic agents like hemlock or Jimson weed. In The Affair at the Victory Ball cocaine was the cause of one murder.

Pupils that are unequal in size suggest head trauma or even a stroke.

Another cause of death that an amateur sleuth may be able to determine is no laughing matter despite the name Risus Sardonicus. This is the one of the final living expressions of the dying person and it resembles a tremendous devilish smile or maybe a grinning grimace. The cause is Strychnine, which causes the body to go into spasms that are terrible to see.

This method of murder was used by Miss Christie in The Murderous Affair at Styles

Observers with a keen eye for detail may be able to diagnose one last poison by looking at the fingernails.  A horizontal white band affecting all the nails is a sign of arsenic ingestion. The poisoning in this case would have been some time in the past determined by the rate of nail growth. Some times there are several bands suggesting that the ingestion may not be purely accidental.

So the next time it is your lot in life to help Miss Marple, well maybe not her, she needs no help keep these little tips in mind.